Every now and then I start getting into a bit of rut when it comes to creating outfits. Usually this will happen towards the end of a season or if I haven’t bought anything new for a while. As there’s nothing like having a wonderful new outfit to wear, I thought I’d have a bit of a brainstorm of some ideas to help inspire the creative process. 

So here are 50 random ideas to help add a bit of creativity and fun into your outfit creations. Some may not exactly result in great looks, or even be something you’ll want to try, but they will hopefully help you get thinking and discovering some great new combinations – and have some fun too!

1. Use chance (a Twister spinner or dice or something similar) to choose your colours/pieces.

2. Re-order your wardrobe in a different way. Organise by colour/type – take out some of your most worn items – create a section of clothes that you’d like to wear more often.

3. Create a capsule wardrobe of 8 or so pieces you don’t wear very often and create at least 8 outfits from them.

4. Dress backwards to the way you normally do – ie start with handbag, shoes, scarf, jacket, hair, makeup etc. etc.

5. Get a friend to create an outfit for you.

6. Get a man Dad/Brother/boyfriend/Husband/Grandpa to create an outfit for you.

7. Only wear clothes you haven’t worn yet this year (at the start of the year have all your hangers facing backwards in your closet and turn them around only after you’ve worn the clothes on them – I think I got this idea from Oprah!)

8. Stick up outfit ideas you love near your wardrobe. It’s so easy to forget looks you want to try from magazines, advertisements, Pinterest etc. so keep them where you can see them.

9. Begin by picking an accessory you wish you’d wear more often then create an outfit around it.

10. Find a new, different way to wear your hair and then create an outfit around it.

11. Do your makeup first– try some new colours or ones you wish you wore more often – then create an outfit to compliment. 

12. Learn some colour theory and create an outfit based on complimentary colours, analogous colours, triadic colours etc.

13. Create an outfit from different intensities of the one colour.

14. Dress for some different (imaginary) occasions – going to the Amazon, having a picnic, shopping on the Champs Elysees, a casual look for a movie premiere.

15. Put together two items that you don’t think ‘go’ together and then try to bring balance to the look through other items.

16. Find some fashion rules to break – clash prints, colours, textures, wear blue with green, dress for a different body shape.

17. Find some fashion rules to follow.

18. Seek your colour inspiration from nature or something with design, such as an artwork, can of corn or even a print in an existing piece of clothing.

19. Seek inspiration on Pinterest. It’s by far the best place to find new things to try.  Even if you don’t have an account you can still bookmark great boards you come across.   

20. Experiment with layering things you normally wouldn’t. Try layering some of your dresses to look like a skirt etc.

21. Look at refashioning some of your least favourite/older pieces then incorporate them into a look.

22. Get dressed in the dark.

23. Make an outfit based on only the cheapest (or most expensive/oldest/newest etc.) items you own.

24. Begin dressing casually then try to make the look formal (through accessories, makeup etc.)

25. Begin dressing formally than try to make the look casual (by adding a comfy cardigan, flip flops, casual hair style etc.)

26. Play with combining two very different styles together (such as a teenage and more mature / or a sporty and formal)

27. Take pics on your phone of outfits you like from TV/movies then keep them with your other ideas.

28. Create an outfit out of only neutrals.

29. Search for an item you’d like to style (like striped tee etc.) on Pinterest or Polyvore and look through the thousands of ways it’s already been styled.

30. Dress for a different season then it is and either add/remove some layers.

31. Designate a different colour to wear for everyday of the week and stick to it for a month (preferably colours you don’t wear too often).

32. Pick a different accessory to wear for everyday of the week and stick to it for a month as well (ones you don’t wear too often too).

33. Choose an item to wear several days in a row and style in so differently that people would be lucky to pick up on it.

34. Put on a favourite, go-to outfit, then dramatically alter it’s primary focus/statement (ie. If the main focus of the outfit is a bold belt, take that off and put on some colourful heels or a wide headband instead)

35. Create an outfit for someone else to wear, then make it your own.

36. Try to create a really ‘bad’ looking outfit, then try to make it look good.

37. Create a look for your teenage/younger self then make it more mature.

38. Create a look for your older, more mature self, than make it look younger.

39. Choose your clothes and then have someone else choose your accessories (or other way round).

40. Pick a single item and challenge yourself to come up with as many ways possible ways to style it.

41. Start taking pics of your outfits everyday for a month, then look back on them to see what you’d like to try differently.

42. Create a similar wardrobe to yours on Polyvore (or a small capsule one) – (you can even sort items with the tag ‘My Wardrobe’) then use them to create collages. You could even set up a group contest and have others do it for you!

43. Create your outfits at a different time of day than usual. If you normally work out what you wear before bed – try working out what you’ll wear in the afternoon, or whenever you feel most creative.

44.  Challenge yourself to coming up with an amazing outfit in 5mins, 3mins, 1min, 30secs!

45. Use music/scent/movement/food to make yourself feel really different (like calm or intensely happy) then pick your outfit.

46. Make yourself change something about your outfit every hour during a day.

47. Look back on some photos of yourself as a kid! See what sort of colours and patterns you loved most and create an outfit using them.

48. Find out the latest trends and use some of your oldest items to try to recreate them.

49. Buy some old fashion magazines from the op (thrift) shop and find some inspiration in past trends

50. Lend some of your clothes/accessories to a friend and see how they style them.

Wow that actually turned into quite a long list! Hope these will be of some help! If you try any of these let me know how you go :)

I’m thinking of writing some posts on particular ones of these in the future too so you can see how I go.  I really like the idea of making casual outfits formal as well as playing around with some capsule wardrobes too.